When the snow flies each year, some grade 12 students may be fixating on a chance to carve some sick powder on the slopes, but parents who want to make sure their son or daughter isn’t a perennial ski bum should be aware the winter months are the best time to get in line for early admission for post-secondary programs.

Universities and colleges publish their application deadlines online — with many landing near May 1 annually or earlier for a September start — but high school counsellors say kids should really pay attention instead to when they can get a jump on the application process.

“The better date to remember is when you can start the applications,” says Ed Oke, a counsellor for the Calgary Board of Education at Western Canada High School.

“Most can apply after first report card after October,” he said, adding early admission dates vary by school — such as Mount Royal University which starts taking applications after December 1 each year.

Around that time is when kids get an avalanche of reminders about post-secondary applications in the form of in-class presentations, memos on online school message boards, and fairs where representatives from Canadian institutions set up booths for kids to shop the options face-to-face, says Helen MacKinnon: consultant, guidance and counselling with the Calgary Catholic School Division. “Counselors advertise it many different ways,” she says, adding parents often light the fire under their kid’s backside to prompt the first steps in the process.

Deadlines are as firm and kids who miss those final dates for applications, plus the accompanying fees and transcripts, could get iced out because they are competing with students across the country and beyond.

Dates can vary by course within the school. At the University of Calgary for example, those going into dance, engineering, medicine or neuroscience face an earlier deadline of April 1 versus the typical May 1 time limit.

Application fees range between $35-$130 per application. Separate applications and fees may also be required for each program the student is attempting to enter. Copies of transcripts can cost extra, unless the institution uses ApplyAlberta, the online application system. Students applying to schools outside of Alberta must complete an official transcript request form available online.